a bump in the road
by shyesplease
Summary: Barry and Caitlin are on their way to upstate New York for the weekend but then they're not. For SimplySnowbarry's Spring Snowbarry Challenge. Theme: Road Trip


"I think we're going to need an actual mechanic to come and fix this," Barry reluctantly admitted as he poked his head out from under the hood, his features soft under the bluish hue of the moon despite the frown lines that appeared at his unfortunate news.

They had left Central City before the crack of dawn that morning to take a road trip up to upstate New York. It had been Caitlin's idea for Barry to get away and try to relax for a couple days since they had just defeated another brutal foe and their hero was in dire of some good R&R. However, they were only a couple hours away from their destination when they hit a literal bump in the road that inevitably caused Caitlin's car to start sputtering, eventually stopping the car. Barry hadn't thought it was anything major, but apparently it was, since he _still_ couldn't figure out the problem after a whole hour's worth of tinkering with the engine.

Caitlin let out a long sigh as she leaned back against her car in defeat, turning off her flashlight that had been helping Barry see the car's engine in the late-night light. "I guess we have to call a mechanic then…"

"It's too late, Cait. Every place is closed for the night," Barry pointed out, sidestepping the vehicle to face his companion. "Why don't I speed us to the rental and then tomorrow morning I can bring us back?"

"I'm not leaving my car," Caitlin responded resolutely with a definitive shake of her head.

Barry's face scrunched up in confusion, taking the necessary steps he had to face his Caitlin directly. "Why not? Nothing's going to happen to it."

"Do you know that for sure?" Caitlin questioned, her one eyebrow raised in contention. "It's not like we'd be around the corner. We're still a couple hours away from New York."

"It's broken down. Even if someone broke into it, they wouldn't get anywhere," Barry pointed out.

"That doesn't make me feel better, Barry," the geneticist claimed, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well I don't want to sleep in the back of the car all night."

"Then go," she told him simply, waving her hand in the general direction he would have to go.

Barry let out a scoff. "I'm not leaving you here by yourself. What if someone comes along and wants to have their way with you or kidnaps you or something?"

Caitlin snorted indignantly. "So you're admitting this isn't a safe place to be, yet you want to keep my car here?"

The speedster rolled his eyes, she could see his patience was starting to run thin. "The car is _a car_. You can always get a new one. We can't get a new you if something were to happen."

"I can take care of myself."

"Not the point," Barry said with an exasperated sigh. "Ooh, what about Cisco?" he then asked, suddenly remembering their vibing friend who also happened to be very handy in these types of situations. "He could just create a portal to here, fix the car no problem, and we'd be on our way again."

The forensic scientist made to take his phone out, but Caitlin placed a gentle hand on his arm, pausing the action. "He's on Earth-5 with Gypsy this weekend, remember?"

"Arghh," Barry let out frustratingly, kicking the front tire.

"Hey, hey," Caitlin let out. "Don't take this out on the car."

"You're right. It's not the stupid car's fault, it's the owner's fault. Isn't that right, Ms. Let's-Go-For-A-Roadtrip?"

Caitlin's mouth dropped as she let out a small gasp of surprise. "I don't know, I think we would have been fine if it hadn't been for the driver, Mr. Let's-Take-The-Scenic-Route."

Barry mumbled something under his breath, but it was too low for Caitlin to make out as he trudged his way back to the front of the car to look under the hood again. She rolled her eyes at his childishness.

All of a sudden, a big metallic clang was heard followed by the sight of the hood falling down on top of Barry.

"Barry!" she frantically yelled out, rushing to his side and lifting the metal off his body. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly as he slowly removed himself from out under the hood.

"Fine," he weakly dismissed, holding the back of his head, wincing slightly.

Caitlin immediately got out her professional flashlight, shining the beaming light towards where Barry was holding his head. "Move your hands," she instructed lightly. When he did, she was relieved to see that there wasn't any blood, just a small, normal-forming bump that should be gone within the hour with his healing rates. "Let me see your eyes now."

"I don't have a concussion," Barry insisted, knowing the drill by now with his personal physician.

"Let me just make sure," she said, ignoring his rolling eyes as she cupped his face with one hand while shining the flashlight into his eyes.

"No concussion," she stated with relief after carefully checking each eye. She then reached up to caress the top of his cheek with the pad of her thumb, tenderly rubbing at the spot.

Barry leaned into her touch, his eyes fluttering closed. "I thought you were mad at me?" he questioned breathily.

"I am, but…you just had some grease there," she let out semi-distractingly, her hand now rising to run affectionately through his hair, particularly around the spot he was struck. She'd like to pretend this was just for a doctorly assessment, but the truth was that he had amazing hair. If it was deemed socially acceptable, she'd run her hands through his hair all the time.

"Does the back of my head have grease too?" Barry asked over a sigh of content, but his smile was wolfish and perceptive. "I know the movie _Grease_ is like our thing and all, but I promise I haven't started putting grease in my hair in an effort to woo you."

The doctor snorted, retracting her hand. "Good to know," she quipped with a playful roll of her eyes. "Now, care to tell me how the fastest man alive wasn't able to dodge a simple hood?" she wondered teasingly.

The speedster weakly chuckled. "I didn't realize it was happening until it happened. It's so dark out here."

"That tends to happen when you're in the middle of nowhere and it's night," she loftily pointed out, smirking as she lifted herself up on the top of the hood, sitting back against the windshield.

"You don't say…" Barry joked back, his lips curved into a playful grin as he hopped on the hood to sit beside her.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, captivated by the number of stars that they could see while deserted on the desolate highway. Central City, even it's less-lighted areas, never showed a fraction of how many stars they were witnessing now.

"I'm sorry," Barry spoke up, his eyes still trained on the night's sky.

Caitlin turned her head to him, her cheek resting on the cool surface of the windshield glass.

"I didn't mean to sound so harsh earlier," he confessed quietly, turning his head and mimicking her position. The moon was providing just enough light for her to see his striking green eyes, she'd even admit to herself that they could be more captivating then the stars they were just admiring. "I know you wanted to give me a weekend to relax, and I'm trying to relax, but I just have this irrational fear that every second I'm not in Central City, another bad guy is showing up or the city is burning..."

"Wally and Jesse have it handled," Caitlin chirped in reassuringly. "They would have called if something got out of hand. You can take a break from being a hero, Barry. You deserve time off just like anyone else."

"I know, I know," Barry agreed, albeit still uneasily. "Still, I'm sorry for taking it out on you. It wasn't cool."

"It's alright," she started with a sigh, "I wasn't exactly the queen of maturity either."

Barry quietly chuckled, his eyes crinkling in that manner that always made Caitlin's heart flutter. "No, I guess you weren't. Mind telling me why you refuse to leave the car?"

She shook her head, blowing out a breath of air. "It's stupid."

He smiled down at her fondly. "Cait, if we're going to do this," he started, taking ahold of her hand with his and giving her a supportive squeeze, "then you need to know that you can tell me anything. Whether you think it's beyond stupid or silly, I want to know."

His sincerness tugged right at her heart, immediately placing her guard down like it did quite often around him.

"Well the car kind of means something more to me - it's like a symbol," she began, biting her lip as she thought of how to describe it. "It was the first thing I bought with my own money after I refused to work with my mother...So, it's sort of a...metaphorical f-you, I guess..." she answered sheepishly.

Barry let out a hearty laugh that instantly made Caitlin flush. "See, you're laughing, I told you it was stupid.," she asserted, her face pinching as she looked down and away from him in humiliation.

The speedster placed his index finger under her chin, gently tilting her head back up so she would look at him. Amusement was still evident in his expression, but adoration was clear in his eyes. "I'm not laughing because I think it's stupid. I'm laughing because you're adorable," he answered honestly. "Especially when you scrunch in that face of yours," he added, reaching out to smooth the lines on her face that wrinkled in her brief explanation.

Caitlin dipped her head in mild embarrassment but could not suppress the blooming smile spreading across her face. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Allen."

He leaned forward, his nose brushing delicately against hers. "Oh, but I think it is, Dr. Snow," he said smugly, before closing the gap between their lips in a tender, languid kiss.

"We don't have to go to New York if staying in Central City will ease your mind," she suggested breathlessly after breaking their kiss.

"No, no," he immediately said, fingers brushing smoothly over her hip, while his other hand brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's about time that I get you all to myself for a whole weekend, on a road trip no less."

Caitlin's hands played with the hem of his shirt. "Joe said you used to enjoy going on road trips with your mom and dad…" she quietly admitted, biting her lip again.

Barry's whole face considerably softened at the mention of his parents. "I did really enjoy my road trips with my parents," he silently shared, his gaze falling to her shoulder, but his mind might as well have been past the stars. He was contemplative for a moment, causing Caitlin to fear that she did the wrong thing by planning the trip, but his face soon broke out into a content grin, melting away her worries. "And now that can be something I enjoy with you," he expressed, before laying another sweet kiss on her lips, his hands cupping her face so delicately that their presence felt ghost-like.

She smiled throughout the kiss, unable to help herself. "Even if that means sleeping in the back of a small car on the side of a deserted road?" she giggled against his lips.

"Especially so," he answered, resting his forehead against hers, watching her unwaveringly. "I love you, Cait," he confessed, telling her for the first time.

Her throat suddenly felt thick with the emotions bubbling up in her throat, her eyes starting to sting with the promise of tears – happy ones. "I love you too, Barry," she was eventually able to muster out.

The young forensic scientist immediately beamed back at her with glee, kissing her soundly, before flashing them to the back of her cramped little car, where they made love in the quietness of the Spring night.

* * *

 **A/N:** Just a little something for the Spring Snowbarry challenge that SimplySnowbarry on tumblr was hosting. It was just something a bit random, but I hope you still enjoyed it! Leave a review and let me know what you thought! :)


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